Illusions in Art

Probably the first artist that I became really interested in as a kid was M.C. Escher. His work was always extremely interesting. Even though his work was done mostly from wood blocks and lithographs, I felt that I could relate to his work because it looked like pencil, my tool of the trade at the time. He was the first artist that inspired me to try and make art with more meaning than just a doodle.

Optical illusions have always been interesting to me. I have been playing with them in my artwork for many years now. My most recent attempt at combining the two was a video performance that was inspired by an ambigram done by Scott Kim called "True/False." His work is almost entirely text based. He makes his living designing puzzles and illusions in everything from puzzles to computer games.

Another artist that uses illusions that has inspired me in my work is Rex Whistler. He creates pencil drawn inversions of faces that when looked at upside down create a new image. That faces are very bizarre and all share some similar qualities between them. I used this idea to create a series of full bodied creatures in a series on optical illusions. The drawings were all done on a single board that could be flipped either way.

Although the majority of these artist's work may not be considered high art, it is what has always appealed to me. This is probably because it is much easier to connect with illusions because the meaning of the work is clearer than most high art. People understand that the work is suppose to create an illusion making it easier to except the work. On the other hand, if the illusion is deeper than that, it is often overlooked and the art is misunderstood. It's an interesting paradox.